Revell Lockheed F-104G Starfighter ‘Tiger Meet’ 1:48

Review by: Paul Kirsopp

 

The Aircraft

Known as the missile with a man in it, the F104 first flew in March 1954. Designed by Kelly Johnson, the Starfighter was capable of 2.2m and of reaching 75000 feet, although the often-quoted height of 60,000 feet is probably a more realistic.

Armed with a six barrelled M-61 20mm gun and up to four Sidewinders, the Starfighter was a capable aircraft. Between 1965 and 67 it flew 8200 combat missions over Vietnam losing only 9 aircraft.

The Starfighter was used by Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany and Canada as well as Japan.

The Wing span was 22′, length 55′ and was 13.5′ high. She had a range of 1600 nm.

The Model

First the box. I will continue my hate campaign against the end opening envelope type box; I just don’t like them. I far prefer a tray-type box, I believe they’re much better for holding the kit during construction. All is not lost though, it’s quite a nice picture on the box that will no doubt encourage some to buy, particularly the younger buyer.

Now for the bad news: those of us who were hoping this was a re-box of the Hasegawa kit can cry now. It’s not. What it is, I think, is the old Monogram kit which means it’s not all that bad, but still not the Hasegawa kit. We have raised panel lines, an OK-ish cockpit, a couple of AIM-9 Sidewinders and what I think is a Vicon recon pod.

Moulded in a lovely bright yellow (Yuck!) shade, the kit is made up from three sprues, one clear. The parts count is modest at 56 in ‘yum yum’ yellow and six in clear plastic.

 

We have the usual Revell instruction sheet that, while a little bit awkward to handle, provides everything you need to build the kit. 

Now the reason Revell chose to mould the kit in yellow is that it makes doing the Tiger stripes easier for the inexperienced. The decal sheet provides all the stripes in a rather matt finish. For those who prefer, the sheet provides the instrument panels as decals. The decal sheet is to Revell’s usual standard so it shouldn’t provide any problems.

The model portrays FX-52 of the Belgian air force, painted up for the 1978 Tiger Meet held at Kleine-Brogel airbase.

 

Conclusion

There’s no doubt the kit will make into an eye catching model. I think I might do this one with the canopy closed, wheels up and on a pole, when (when!) I get around to it.

References

Kit instructions.

Squadron/Signal No. 27. The F104 Starfighter.

Kit bought from: Models4hobby, County Durham www.models4hobby.co.uk.

Paul K.